From its inception in 2008, a major goal of the Tufts Clinical and Translational Institute (CTSI) has been to develop a comprehensive infrastructure for the efficient conduct of comparative effectiveness research (CER), the development of innovative CER methods, and the training of fellows and scholars in CER. Based on a long tradition in this area, the Tufts CTSI has linked an extraordinary array of disciplines, novel methods and collaborative research opportunities focused on "bedside-to-practice" and "practice-to-policy" translational research and, based on these assets and this focus, has played a leadership role in coordinating the response of the National CTSA Consortium. It has been clear that the need for CER to provide readily available and actionable information on the relative benefits and costs of competing treatment options far outstrips the collective capacity of academic research centers like the Tufts CTSI, where the nation's expertise and capacity for CER largely resides. A large national investment to train the next generation of CER researchers, as well as a commitment on the part of academic centers to prioritize CER training, is urgently needed. The Tufts CTSI is exquisitely well prepared to expand our role in training leaders and innovators in CER, to grow our core CER capacity, to help meet these critical needs. With this application, we aim to establish a Mentored Career Development Program in CER that builds on the breadth and depth of our research expertise across the full CER spectrum, as well as on our long history of training CER scholars and on our robust links to community and industry stakeholders. The purpose of this training program is: 1) to produce the leaders and innovators to help meet the nation's enormous CER challenges and workforce needs of the coming decade, and 2) (since CER is performed collaborative in teams) to further strengthen the Tufts CTSI as a Center of Excellence in CER. PUBLIC HEALTH RELEVANCE: Clinicians, patients, and payors need accurate and actionable information to make myriad important health care decisions every day. Yet often this information is unavailable. To provide this information, we need high quality comparative effectiveness research about the value of treatments. This application is to provide training for the next generation of leaders and innovators in comparative effectiveness research.